Canvassing
I could be using my extra hour for sleep, but no, you guys come first. Also, I’m still a little hyped up on the sugar I’ve been consuming at an alarming rate to stay functional. Note to self – go for a run. After the election.
Today was super. The field organizer I’ve been working under sent me out to manage my own canvass staging site, which basically meant she set me up with packets of turf (doors to be knocked) and sent me volunteers. The staging site was the precinct captain’s house, but she was getting ready to go out of town, so I was pretty much on my own. That’s another thing I love about this campaign – it’s so easy to be given instant responsibility, very much getting thrown in the water to sink or swim. I tend to work well in that kind of environment, with people counting on me and very little room or time for error. You just do what you have to do, and move on to the next thing.
It’s not that training volunteers on how to canvass is hard, but I’ve never done it before, and there certainly wasn’t anyone more experienced who could be spared to watch over my shoulder. It was a bit frazzling when the volunteers arrived in droves and we ran out of canvassing packets, but ultimately we got all of the packets out and back, and I didn’t hear from anyone who said they had a bad time. And luckily Mike, one of the DNC summer interns, was with me, and he was a wizard at organizing the information and numbers we had to report to HQ, so I could concentrate on giving the volunteers the information they needed.
There was some down time in the morning after the first wave, so I got to canvass a pack myself, which was great. It was the perfect day – warm at 66 degrees, bright sunshine, a little bit of a breeze, what more could I ask for? Unfortunately, I only made three voter contacts. The rest of my packet wasn’t home, probably enjoying the amazing weather themselves. Being outside instead of being cooped up at the DNC or in the VA field office was so refreshing. Have I mentioned how much I love canvassing?
And the best part is, I get to do it again tomorrow! I’ll be working with one of field organizers who apparently got swamped today at a different staging location. Hopefully I’ll be able to walk another packet or two in between trainings. At some point tomorrow, I’ll try to interrupt your regularly scheduled gushing about field work with a post about good old Dems Abroad, but we’ll see if that actually happens
In other news, I bought my bus ticket home for Thanksgiving today, before they all sell out. I can’t believe how close this is to being over.
